Hockey Widow wrote:Ownership has been fine. To my surprise. They spend to the cap and beyond and have given MG everything he has asked for. They have given him full autonomy. What more could a gm ask for really?

Ownership gave us MG & AV, that is all.

There is no such thing as climate change...there is no such thing as climate change...there is such thing as climate change...

Hockey Widow wrote:Ownership has been fine. To my surprise. They spend to the cap and beyond and have given MG everything he has asked for. They have given him full autonomy. What more could a gm ask for really?

Ownership gave us MG & AV, that is all.

No, they gave us MG. MG kept AV and extended him. They also gave us their cash.

Maybe they kiss and make up and rehire Burke?? LOL NOT

But who is out there as a GM that you would want. I'm not familiar with who may be available.

HW, when the Dallas Stars announced the hiring of Jim Nill the only two other names that were tossed out as being considered were Ron Hextall who is an assistant in LA and Brian Burke. I don't know anything about Hextall's credentials to be a GM, and probably a lot of people won't know him from his playing days, but he was a fierce competitor as I am sure you know.

On another note, the talk I have seen regarding the Colorado coaching position seems to revolve around three people: Dallas Eakins of the Toronto Marlies (who is supposedly good with young player development but is considered a more defensive system minded coach), Doug Houda in Boston who I don't know much about, and, believe it or not, our very own AV!!

Waffle wrote:HW, when the Dallas Stars announced the hiring of Jim Nill the only two other names that were tossed out as being considered were Ron Hextall who is an assistant in LA and Brian Burke. I don't know anything about Hextall's credentials to be a GM, and probably a lot of people won't know him from his playing days, but he was a fierce competitor as I am sure you know.

Damn, I was going to say jim nill, but didn't know he is with dallas now. I wouldn't mind hextall, I think he played a role in getting LA to be a playoff team, bigger/stronger guys, guys who are tough to play against and built to win a grueling 7 game series. Hextall played old school hockey, and I wouldn't mind that. Marc Bergervin and Garth Snow came out of no where to become GMs, hextall has been serving as an assistant for a couple years now... he may be ready.

I'm getting tired of having a bunch of soft talented offensive guys who always seem to disappear during the playoffs. I'd rather have some guys who are not as talented, but will battle every night; even if they lose, they go down fighting. I know I'm sounding like cherry, but I'm tired of all the euros, i'd like to fill our roster with a bunch of good canadian kids.

As for Burkie, I liked him alot, but we kind of been there and done that (2X now really). He's getting a bit old now too and seems to have a bunch of personal problems. If we were going to get a new GM (which I doubt), I'd go with a younger guy like hextall.

Todd Bersnoozi wrote:I'm getting tired of having a bunch of soft talented offensive guys who always seem to disappear during the playoffs. I'd rather have some guys who are not as talented, but will battle every night; even if they lose, they go down fighting. I know I'm sounding like cherry, but I'm tired of all the euros, i'd like to fill our roster with a bunch of good canadian kids. .

Been saying this for years, too many perimeter players who can all skate and no players who crashes the net.

3 main points from 3 years ago that I have been saying and arguing with the likes of people like Pot

1) - Canucks would never win the cup with AV as coach. AV is nothing but a defensive coach who will always revert to a trap when he should attack(see game 2 of this series), he was forced to play an attacking style of hockey by MG and he had the guns to do it. AV does not bring up young guys and give them a chance. AV cannot adjust his game within the game. Again AV has been made to look really great when he was given a team with the offensive talent this team had over the past 3 - 5 years.

2) Canucks have too many of the same type of players (Sedins, Raymond, & Hansen) who are soft perimeter players who can skate but don't go to the net. How many games night after night for the past couple of years have we seen all 3 forwards behind the net with no one in front. Cycle, cycle, cycle shot, shot blocked or goalie save but look no one in the dirty area to score. Kesler is the only player I would say at least trys to go to the net or deflect shots.

3) Edler & Bieksa are over rated, they are good but they are not true #1 more of #2b type of players. This is OK except when you count on them to be Weber type players. Do you remember when we all thought Edler was going to be the next Lindstrom, Edler is a guy who was in the right place at the right time. His numbers were what they were/are because he played on one of the most offensive talented teams, even now his numbers are there because he plays 25 mins a night and on the top PP unit. Give any D man that and plays with the Sedins and their number would be higher than expected. Not saying he didn't have the raw talent but I wonder about his success is more of the environment and not what he created. Where was Bieksa toughness against Boston, a lot of talk about this yet we see it so rarely that he lives on reputation of what he did the first few years of his career.

What pisses me off is that for the past 15 years, give or take a couple of seasons, the Canucks have had a top end team and we always seemed to either have a GM who wouldn't put the final pieces in (i.e. beach ball Dan) or a coach with an ego the size of Manhatt and played his favorite players instead of doing what is best for the team.

Reefer2 wrote: 1) Canucks would never win the cup with AV as coach. AV is nothing but a defensive coach who will always revert to a trap when he should attack(see game 2 of this series), he was forced to play an attacking style of hockey by MG and he had the guns to do it. AV does not bring up young guys and give them a chance. AV cannot adjust his game within the game. Again AV has been made to look really great when he was given a team with the offensive talent this team had over the past 3 - 5 years.

Agreed, but between him and Newell Brown they did devise some set-plays which led to an up-tick in scoring. The problem is everyone in the league has figured them out and the coaching staff hasn't come up with anything new. They've proven before they can innovate, but they either have no new ideas or won't impliment them.

Reefer2 wrote:2) Canucks have too many of the same type of players (Sedins, Raymond, & Hansen) who are soft perimeter players who can skate but don't go to the net. How many games night after night for the past couple of years have we seen all 3 forwards behind the net with no one in front. Cycle, cycle, cycle shot, shot blocked or goalie save but look no one in the dirty area to score. Kesler is the only player I would say at least trys to go to the net or deflect shots.

Hansen can go to the dirty areas and has on occasion. There are others who can and have before on occasion (Higgins, Booth, etc) but it seems that's not in the gameplan, despite the fact that it's what they need to do. AV talks a good game, but if he can't get his forwards to get off the boards into the middle of the ice even when those players of capable of doing it (hell Daniel did it more than occasionally before) then it's time for Gillis to find someone else who can.

Reefer2 wrote:3) Edler & Bieksa are over rated, they are good but they are not true #1 more of #2b type of players. This is OK except when you count on them to be Weber type players. Do you remember when we all thought Edler was going to be the next Lindstrom, Edler is a guy who was in the right place at the right time. His numbers were what they were/are because he played on one of the most offensive talented teams, even now his numbers are there because he plays 25 mins a night and on the top PP unit. Give any D man that and plays with the Sedins and their number would be higher than expected. Not saying he didn't have the raw talent but I wonder about his success is more of the environment and not what he created. Where was Bieksa toughness against Boston, a lot of talk about this yet we see it so rarely that he lives on reputation of what he did the first few years of his career.

I don't think Edler is overrated at all. Agreed that he is not a dominant D of the likes of Weber, Doughty or Karlsson but he can be a good #1 on a good team... one day. Yeah, his numbers may be the product of being on the ice with the Twins just like Erhoff, but he has the skills and the size. The problem is between his ears and either he needs a new coach in his ear or a new team. Either that, or Gillis has to go out and get that stud defenceman with Edler as cheaper bait.

As for Bieksa, he's a good top 4 when healthy and someone has to remind him what got him the room and the money he gets nowadays. Again, it comes down to coaching.

Reefer2 wrote:What pisses me off is that for the past 15 years, give or take a couple of seasons, the Canucks have had a top end team and we always seemed to either have a GM who wouldn't put the final pieces in (i.e. beach ball Dan) or a coach with an ego the size of Manhatt and played his favorite players instead of doing what is best for the team.

I don't think Gillis has lacked for trying to get those pieces to win it all. I think he just misjudged what he was getting and wasn't willing to part with assets needed to get what he could have got. I'd rather see that than Cheezeburglar's dithering and frittering away higher picks for slugs on the periphery (though Roy is starting to look like one such instance). For all the time, effort and money going into pro scouting and such, Gillis has struck out more than he's got on base. If he wants to stick around, that's one key area he needs to fix before we see another Ballard-type trade.

Lancer wrote:I don't think Gillis has lacked for trying to get those pieces to win it all. I think he just misjudged what he was getting and wasn't willing to part with assets needed to get what he could have got. I'd rather see that than Cheezeburglar's dithering and frittering away higher picks for slugs on the periphery (though Roy is starting to look like one such instance). For all the time, effort and money going into pro scouting and such, Gillis has struck out more than he's got on base. If he wants to stick around, that's one key area he needs to fix before we see another Ballard-type trade.

Gillis has gone to the dollar store to try and get the reinforcements we have needed, believing that the core we have is capable of winning the Cup and that a few depth guys to augment the lineup would be enough (Ballard, Booth, Roy, etc.).

Now that it's clear this core is not good enough to get it done, Gillis needs to look at getting some serious help up front and mixing up the makeup of the team. We don't have cap space to burn, so high contract guys like Edler and Burrows are the easy trade targets.

Lancer wrote:I think a lot of key pieces are still there, but the coach has to go.

I certainly would agree that at this point you don't blow up the team entirely, but this group is in need of a wake up call. Change the coaching staff, trade a couple of core guys for youth up front and all of a sudden the makeup of the team is a lot different and hopefuly rejuvinated.

Playoff hockey is war and the guys leading you into battle make a difference. Ask any soldier.

I've heard numerous stories from former players who have described how guys like Messier and Yzerman turned a room around by literally manhandling the guys who were the problem and calling them out in front of the team. You think fucking Henrik would do that?

If the guy rallying the troops is a warrior who puts himself on the line for the team, you're going to respect him more than some pacifistic little pussy who looks scared half the time he's on the ice. You're going to do things you might normally not do for that kind of guy.

Sometimes you have guys like that in the room but they don't speak up like they might because they don't have the authority of the C or A. It's not their team.

Don't underestimate the power of motivation and confidence and what the right personality can do to instill that in a group.

Last edited by Rumsfeld on Tue May 07, 2013 5:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Cowards die a thousand times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once.